Spring motor



L. SGHMITT.

SPRING MOTOR;

APP LlCATION FILED APRJI, 1921.

Patented July 18, 1922 l i I I U UETED LUDWIG- SCHMITT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPRING MOTOR.

iaaaosa.

Application filed April 11,

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that I, LUDWIG SCI-IMITT, a citizen of Germany (who has made application for naturalization as a citizen of the United Stateshresiding at Chicago. in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring Motors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to spring motors and in its chief intended application is designed as an improvement upon the type of spring motors commonly used on talking machines.

Talking machine motors comprise essentially one or more devices of the clock spring type employing long helical springs anchored at their inner ends to a Winding spindle and at their out-er ends to a drum housing, this latter being geared to the spindle of the rotating turn table or record carrier. In order to make the springs expand freely, when wound up, and to prevent sticking of the closely wound coils on each other through friction, it is customary to plentifully supply the drum or casing of the motor with lubricant, consisting usually of a mixture of oil and graphite. This lubricant requires to be re-supplied occasionally to keep the motor in good working condition, and heretofore it has been necessary for this purpose, to partly disassemble the motor structure and this involves considerable time and workespecially in structures employing a gang or battery of individual springs co-axially united to each other, which is customary on nearly all types of talking machines.

The object of the present invention. is to improve spring motors of this type by making the lubrication of the same a very simple and easy matter, and, more specifically, by providing a structure of motor such that the lubricant can be supplied thereto without requiring any disassembling of the cooperating parts of the motor.

The manner and means in and by which this object is attained will be readily understood by persons familiar with this art from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which I have illustrated a simple and approved embodiment of the invention, and in which;

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a spring motor employing a pair of connected spring units Specification of Letters Patent.

l the winding spindle of motor, co-axially mounted on which are a Patented .nii 18,1922.

1521. Serial No. 460,445.

having my improvements applied thereto; and

F 1g. 2 1s a cross-section on the line 22 of F1g. 1.

. Referring to the drawing, 5 may designate a talking machine pair of spring housings or drums 6 and 6 the contiguous ends of which are formed with radial flanges 7 and 7" united by cap screws 8. Within each drum 6 is the usual long helical spring 9, the outer end of which is attached, as by a rivet 10, to the circumferential wall of the drum. The inner end of the spring in the upper drum 6 is anchored at 11 to a sleeve 12 keyed on the winding spindle 5, as shown at 13, while i the inner end of the spring in the lower drum 6 is anchored to a sleeve, indicated at 14:, on the upper face of a transmission gear 15 and loose'onthe spindle 5. Fast on the spindle 5 are the winding gear 16 and detent ratchet 17. The parts as thus far-described are all as usual in this type of multiple spring talking machine motor.

Referring now to that feature of improvement in which my present invention resides, in the circumferential wall of each. of the drums 6 and 6 I form an opening 18; and in the wall adjacent to the opposite ends of the opening 18 are set a pair of threaded studs 19. 20 designates a cover plate having a curvature corresponding to that of the circumferential wall of the drum and formed with end slots 21 by which the same can be mounted on the studs 19 and clamped down hard by a pair of thumb nuts 22. Be-

tween the cover plate 20 and the opening 18 is interposed a suitable gasket 23,'the ends of which are likewise suitably slotted to fit down over the studs 19 so as to make an oil tight joint. From the foregoing it will be readily seen that when the spring requires to be lubricated it is necessary only to back off the nuts 22, remove the cover plate and its gasket, and apply the lubrication through the opening 18; this being done at a time when the spring is preferably fully wound up so as to provide ample circumferential space inside the opening, permitting the lubricant to readily flow entirely around the spring. The lubricant is preferably introduced by a grease gun equipped with a suitable coupling or applicator which may fit over'the threaded studs 19,-in the same fashion as the cover plate 20, and be clamped in place by the nuts 22; but such lubricant supplying device is not herein shown as it forms no part of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A spring motor of the type described, including a drum forming a spring housing, said drum having an opening in its circumferential wall for the supply of lubricant to the spring, a cover plate for said opening, and means for detachably securing said cover plate in place.

2. A spring motor of the type described, including a drum forming a spring housing, said drum having an opening in its circumferential wall for the supply of lubricant to the spring, a pair of threaded studs mounted in said Wall adjacent to opposite edges of said opening, a cover plate for said opening formed With apertures fitting over said studs, and nuts on said studs for clamping said cover plate in place over said opening.

3. A spring motor of the type described, including a drum forming a spring housing, said drum having an opening in its circumferential Wall for the supply of lubricant to said spring, pair of threaded studs mounted in said Wall opposite the ends of said opening, a gasket having openings fitting over said studs, a cover-plate for said opening curved endwise to conform to the curvature of said circumferential Wall and "formed with apertures fitting over said studs, and nuts on said studs for clamping said cover plate and gasket in place over said opening.

LUDWIG SCHMITT. 

